XianReviews update 4-24-2009

Tenth Avenue North, made up of members Mike Donehey (lead vocalist/acoustic guitar), Jason Jamison (drummer), Jeff Owen (electric guitar/background vocals) and Scott Sanders (bass guitar), became the best selling new Christian artist of 2008, recently crossing the 100,000 sales mark, with its May 20, 2008 Reunion Records debut, Over and Underneath.

In addition, the band is the only new artist to have claimed No. 1 radio singles on multiple charts with, “Love is Here” and “By Your Side” both topping charts in 2008. The band kicked off 2009 with another No. 1 as “By Your Side” claimed the top spot on the R&R CHR chart (1/29/09). This marked the band’s third No. 1 and made them the only new artist in the last year to have a multi-format No. 1.


The Christian music industry crowned a new Male Vocalist of the Year last night at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, naming singer-songwriter and radio hitmaker Brandon Heath its honored recipient. Heath’s GRAMMY-nominated hit single “Give Me Your Eyes,” off his sophomore album What If We, was also named Song of the Year, for which Heath received a Dove trophy for co-writing the No. 1 song with Jason Ingram. The live broadcast of the 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards show aired nationwide on the Gospel Music Channel.

XianReviews update 4-16-2009

Owyoung and Maybury, both formerly of Something Like Silas, started Future of Forestry in 2005 with Floeter and Kim. Since then, the band has been a constant on the West Coast scene, securing fans from their hometown to Seattle and everywhere in between as they recorded and prepared for the release of their debut LP.

Paul Ramey has not only been leading worship for more than thirteen years, but due to a snowboarding accident as a teenager that left his back broken, Paul has spent those years leading worship through constant pain. This first hand knowledge of God’s goodness in the midst of pain has fueled Paul’s passion to compel the church to worship Jesus with a healthy view of suffering.

XianReviews update 4-15-2009

In the two years since Salvation In Lights, Farris' live performances across the country, including Bonnaroo, SXSW, Austin City Limits Festival, and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, have left music novices, fans and seasoned artists with the same awe-struck response. His live shows, in no small part, led to this music veteran taking home the Americana Music Award in 2008 "New/Emerging Artist of the Year." Peter Frampton, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Jackson Browne, Marty Stuart and many other artists have taken note of Farris' incomparable vocal performance.



They also serve who only stand and wait. That old saying may sound like an oxymoron, but for artist John Waller it is the simple, Gospel truth - a truth he has been walking out in his own life. "Who among us hasn't become discouraged when you believe you have a promise from God and it doesn't seem to be coming to fruition," John ponders. "We are an action-oriented people and our tendency is to try to help God out by doing something ...anything. Abraham tried to run ahead of God and the result was Ishmael. That didn't work out too well."

XianReviews update 4-14-2009

Sarah Reeves has been called all these things, and with good reason – the 19 year-old Alabama native is a complex composite of each of these traits and so much more. She is fashionable, she's commonplace, she's demure, she's shy, she's outspoken, she's sensitive, she's bubbly, she's pensive, she's completely engaging – and that's before her first cup of coffee.



From the opening salvo of Stellar Kart’s third album Expect the Impossible, it’s evident that the Dove Award-winning band is revolutionizing its sound with this adventurous, spirited, and totally unexpected pop ‘n’ roll project.

I really can not believe I have not already posted Stellar Kart...They are great!

XianReviews update March 28th 2009

I've been very occupied lately and I hope that I can focus on the great local acts around the DFW metro-plex just like Ruby Queen who will be releasing there album on I-tune soon!
Ruby Queen is made up of a group of musicians from the Dallas, Texas area. It all started back at a church in Carrollton called Prince of Peace. Each member of the band had been playing at their own respective churches, until everyone got a call from someone at Prince of Peace at different times. By God's timing and plan, each of us ended up at Prince of Peace to lead worship on Sunday nights for a worship service called "Emerging Church".

XianReviews update 3-13-2009

American pop standard “You Are My Sunshine” is synonymous with idyllic memories of youth and other feelings of merriment. But Copeland, the Lakeland, Fla.-based, indie alternative trio who’ve already brought soul-searching tracks like “Control Freak” and “Pin Your Wings,” spin their own metaphorical thesis on the classic tune for their fourth studio effort, the aptly-titled You Are My Sunshine.




Meet 5 friends from McAllen, Texas:: Andy, Devin, Trey, Heidi and Davy. Meet their auroral melodies, their poetic percussion, and their ethereal lyrics. Meet their shy smiles as they glance downward when asked why they play music together. Welcome to Dignan.

XianReviews update 3-12-2009

When Jonezetta officially landed on the alternative rock radar with 2006’s Tooth & Nail debut Popularity, it was impossible to ignore its neo-new wave grooves and overall infectiousness. Fast forward to 2008’s Cruel To Be Young on the same label and the Mississippi-bred fivesome elevates its creative palate to even more astute degrees, refined by endless hours on the road alongside the likes of Anberlin, Bayside, Mute Math...

Number One Gun are a Christian rock band from Chico, California, that were most recently signed to Tooth & Nail Records. They self-released their debut EP Forever in 2002, before releasing their follow-up albums Celebrate Mistakes (2003) on Floodgate Records and Promises for the Imperfect (2005) on Tooth & Nail Records.

From a rather complicated tangle of events, and by a sometimes dark and winding road, The Fold have managed to not only survive the rough times, but to make the best of them. Their upcoming sophomore album, Secrets Keep You Sick, is evidence of the band's ability to channel their experiences into powerful, infectious songs.